Line of Business
Billion-dollar underground economy run over IRC
Cybercriminals are organizing themselves in the anonymous safety of chat rooms. There, they trade billions of dollars worth of stolen financial information.11/24/2008 5:48:00 AM By: Brian Jackson
Cybercriminals have been scared away from Web forums to Internet Relay Chat (IRC) servers where they continue to do a brisk trade of financial information worth billions of dollars, according to a new report from Symantec Corp.
In an “underground economy” where credit card numbers are sold in bulk and an average bank account is worth less than $100, cybercriminals advertised $276 million worth of illegal services over a one-year period. The report covers cybercriminal activity from June 30, 2007 to July 1, 2008 and was released today.
The amount of money crooks could tap into from stolen lines of credit and bank accounts is more than $7 billion, according to Dean Turner, director of global intelligence network for Symantec Corp. It shows that despite some victories for the law, criminal activity is booming.
“Because of the high-profile arrests we see around these Web forums, these groups are having to cooperate in ways we haven't seen before,” Turner says. “Everything that is required by these guys to conduct cybercrime activities – not only stealing information, but the distribution tools too – is all available in this tightly knit, yet decentralized system.”
In the underground world of hackers and identity thieves, members must build up credibility and prove their ability before they are let into a group. It takes a long time, and requires the members of Web forums maintain a username and connect with the same IP address. But this honour amongst thieves system also baits the likes of the FBI and RCMP.
Law enforcement infamously infiltrated the forum Shadowcrew.com in 2005 and charged several members with credit card fraud. Now cyber-crooks are shying away from Web forums and reverting to IRC rooms to conduct their business. Though an older channel than Web forums, there are so many IRC servers and chat rooms that it is almost impossible to find the criminal activity taking place within its labyrinthine structure.
A graphic that adorned the Shadowcrew home page.
“They're seeking out public forums where they can hide in plain sight,” Turner says. “The number of users on IRC dwarfs the stuff we saw on Web forums.”
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